The Coast - Lincoln City to Netarts

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Our visit to the coast was brief. We started at Lincoln and drove up on the old road on the ‘Three Capes Loop’. We didn’t get to Cape Meares because there was a washout on the road, but we did see Cape Kiwanda at Pacific City and Cape Lookout. The most spectacular was Cape Lookout, as you can see from the picture I’ve included.

We tested the water out, but only up to our ankles. We both understand why all the surfers are in wet suits in this area. That Pacific water is very cold. Nevertheless, we had to say that we got wet in the Pacific Ocean.

If we were going to come to this region for a stay on the coast we would definitely consider the hotel at Cape Kiwanda. It is expensive, but the views are outstanding. We would not stay in Lincoln again. If we wanted to keep the cost down we would stay in McMinnville and drive the 45 minutes to the coast and back.

I don’t have very much to write about other than to say this part of the coastal drive is spectacular. We were lucky because there wasn’t much traffic. I think this is because it is off season and we weren’t there on a weekend. I’m sure the folks in Portland treat this place as we do Banff when we want to get out for a day’s drive in the country on the weekend. There are hiking trails in the coastal mountains and on the coast itself. We took a short walk in a unique forest right on the coast. Les thought it looked like Tolkien’s Middle Earth.

The drive back to Portland was uneventful, but again, the countryside through the coastal mountains was spotted with unique scenery on a winding highway that climbed up from the coast and over to the Willamette Valley and Portland. By the way, the locals do not use the french pronunciation of Willamette. They insist on their own version, which they say like the word ‘dammit’. In fact, they have T-shirts that have written on them WILLAMETTE, DAMMIT! Oh well….

Before I forget, I hope you have been looking past the advertisements at the bottom of my text as sometimes the extra pictures I've posted are located there.

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